Overuse Injury Definitions and Rates of Overuse Injury in Epidemiology Studies Concerning High School-Aged Athletes: A Critically Appraised Topic

Abstract

Context: The definition of an “overuse injury” had some ambiguity until recent publications. It is unknown whether the improved definition of “overuse injury” has been applied to epidemiology studies that examine high school-aged athletes. This population may be predisposed to overuse injuries due to several factors. Clinical Question: Is there more consistency in how the term “overuse injury” is being used, and has the rate of overuse injuries in high school-aged athletes’ epidemiology studies changed since Roos and Marshall’s 2014 systematic review on overuse injury definitions? Clinical Bottom Line: Since Roos and Marshall’s systematic review, more studies are recognizing “overuse injuries” as needing a specific mechanism of injury; however, several studies failed to differentiate “overuse injuries” from “noncontact injuries.” The rate of overuse injuries does not appear to have changed significantly.